full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Iseult Gillespie: The myth of Loki and the deadly mistletoe

Unscramble the Blue Letters


The god rode for nine days and nine nights, past halls of corpses and over pahts paved with bone. When he finally reached the Queen of the Underworld, Hermod bgeegd her to return Baldur to his family. Hel crodenesid taking pity, but she wanted to know the extent of the gods’ mourning. She agreed to relinquish Baldur’s soul— if homred could prove that every living thing wept at Baldur’s daeth.

Hermod shot back to the land of the lvniig. He met with every creature that fgrig vitsied earlier— all of which cried for Baldur and begged for his return. Meanwhile, Loki watched Hermod’s mission with disdain. He would not let his work be so easily undone, but if he interfered too boldly it might reveal his hand in Baldur’s murder. Disguising himself as a fuirooecs giant, he hid himself at Hermod’s final stop.

Open Cloze


The god rode for nine days and nine nights, past halls of corpses and over _____ paved with bone. When he finally reached the Queen of the Underworld, Hermod ______ her to return Baldur to his family. Hel __________ taking pity, but she wanted to know the extent of the gods’ mourning. She agreed to relinquish Baldur’s soul— if ______ could prove that every living thing wept at Baldur’s _____.

Hermod shot back to the land of the ______. He met with every creature that _____ _______ earlier— all of which cried for Baldur and begged for his return. Meanwhile, Loki watched Hermod’s mission with disdain. He would not let his work be so easily undone, but if he interfered too boldly it might reveal his hand in Baldur’s murder. Disguising himself as a _________ giant, he hid himself at Hermod’s final stop.

Solution


  1. visited
  2. frigg
  3. paths
  4. living
  5. death
  6. ferocious
  7. considered
  8. begged
  9. hermod

Original Text


The god rode for nine days and nine nights, past halls of corpses and over paths paved with bone. When he finally reached the Queen of the Underworld, Hermod begged her to return Baldur to his family. Hel considered taking pity, but she wanted to know the extent of the gods’ mourning. She agreed to relinquish Baldur’s soul— if Hermod could prove that every living thing wept at Baldur’s death.

Hermod shot back to the land of the living. He met with every creature that Frigg visited earlier— all of which cried for Baldur and begged for his return. Meanwhile, Loki watched Hermod’s mission with disdain. He would not let his work be so easily undone, but if he interfered too boldly it might reveal his hand in Baldur’s murder. Disguising himself as a ferocious giant, he hid himself at Hermod’s final stop.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations




Important Words


  1. agreed
  2. baldur
  3. begged
  4. boldly
  5. bone
  6. considered
  7. corpses
  8. creature
  9. cried
  10. days
  11. death
  12. disdain
  13. disguising
  14. easily
  15. extent
  16. family
  17. ferocious
  18. final
  19. finally
  20. frigg
  21. giant
  22. god
  23. halls
  24. hand
  25. hel
  26. hermod
  27. hid
  28. interfered
  29. land
  30. living
  31. loki
  32. met
  33. mission
  34. mourning
  35. murder
  36. nights
  37. paths
  38. paved
  39. pity
  40. prove
  41. queen
  42. reached
  43. relinquish
  44. return
  45. reveal
  46. rode
  47. shot
  48. stop
  49. underworld
  50. undone
  51. visited
  52. wanted
  53. watched
  54. wept
  55. work